Analysis of Chinese Alienation in English—Chinese Translation from the Perspective of Eco—linguistics

摘 要：As a universal language， English is used widely all over the world， which has great impact on Chinese a lot.In China it is a compulsory course in for high school， and included in NCEE， so English is very important. To some extent it enriches the contents of Chinese from the perspective of eco-linguistics，meanwhile it contaminate the ecology of Chinese， many English learners in China unconsciously combines the expression elements and habits of English with Chinese when they output Chinese，which causes the alienation of Chinese， these alien Chinese are endowed with some features of English culture and customs and its language， so it is very awkward to read and very hard to interpret. The paper studies the causes of the alienation of Chinese based on the theory of eco-linguistics，analyzes the main forms of Chinese alienation， and puts forward some measures to avoid Chinese alienation. It aims to promote the harmonious development of English and Chinese， maintain the ecological balance of language.

關鍵詞：eco-linguistics； alienation；Englichin； cause； set-thinking； balance

1.Introduction

Eco-linguistics refers to the inherent state formed by the interaction and mutual influence between a certain language and its specific environment， culture and customs. Therefore， each language has its own language ecology. English， as a universal language， is used all over the world. It is also a compulsory course for all levels of schools in China， included in the National College Entrance Examination （NCEE）. To some extent， Chinese has been affected and impacted by English. According to the theory of language ecology， the formation of language is not achieved overnight， but formed through interaction and mutual influence with its surrounding environment and culture after long-term accumulation and precipitation. In the process of second language acquisition， language learners will unconsciously put their native language into their second language， using set-thinking mode and expressions to understand the second language or using the acquired second languages own idiomatic expressions to have oral or written translation， which causes two the languages to interact， influence and penetrate each other， gradually the phenomena of language alienation are formed， thats Chinglish or Englichin. Based on the theory of linguistic ecology this paper analyzes the causes of Chinese alienation， characteristics， puts forward Corresponding measures to avoid the phenomena of Chinese alienation， the purpose is to maintain the original ecology of language and promote the harmonious and balanced development of language ecology.

2.The causes of Chinese alienation

2.1.The influence of language ecology

From the perspective of linguistic ecology the phenomenon of Chinese alienation is caused by the effect of English language culture on Chinese language culture， and it is the result of the interaction， mutual influence and infiltration between the two language ecosystems. Language acquisition is influenced by the characteristics of English language and its culture. While outputting of Chinese， especially in the translation process， language learners will unconsciously integrate English sentence structure and its idiomatic expression into Chinese sentences， without considering Chinese ecology， deformed Chinese is formed， which is not in line with the language characteristics of Chinese， on the contrary， these alien Chinese are given some features of English culture and customs. So its very awkward to read and very difficult to understand.

The main forms of Chinese alienation：

2.1.1.Vocabulary

2.1.1.1 Link-verb be

In English adjectives and preposition phrases cannot be predicated alone， they must be predicted with be. Be + adj./pre. phrase

e.g. a The cooperation between the two countries is far significant.

Trans.1 兩國之間的合作是具有深遠意義的。

Trans.2 兩國之間的合作具有深遠意義。

e.g. b Your mobile phone is on the desk.

Trans.1 你的手機是在桌子上。

Trans.2 你的手機在桌子上。

Obviously， in the two examples， the first translations are strictly translated according to the English literal meaning， and can be understood， but they are awkward to read； the second ones more in line with Chinese language expression and habits.

2.1.1.2 Subordinate conjunctions

In English， subordinate conjunctions are used to guide nominal clauses and adverbial clauses， which have certain meanings. In sentences， subordinate conjunctions play a role of leading clauses and ca serve as certain components. Common subordinate conjunctions are： when， although， because， where and so on.

when （當……的時候） guides an adverbial clause of time.

Although（ 雖然/盡管 ） guides an adverbial clause of concession. In English it can not be used with but.

Because（因為） guides an adverbial clause of cause， it cannot be used with so.

Where（在……的地方） guides an adverbial clause of place.

e.g. a. We had hardly fallen asleep when the bell rang.

Trans.1. 當鈴聲響起的時候，我們剛剛入睡。

Trans.2. 我們剛剛入睡，鈴聲就響起來。

e.g. b. We were about to start when suddenly it began to rain.

Trans.1.當天突然開始下雨的時候，我們正要出發。

Trans.2.我們正要出發，這時天突然開始下雨了。

In Trans. 1 “when” is strictly translated into “當……的時候” based on its literal meaning， and Trans.2 is more suitable for Chinese， it sounds more comfortable.

e.g. c. Although his relationship with his mother had improved somewhat， he was still depressed.

Trans.1 雖然和他母親的關系有所改善，他仍然十分消沉。

Trans.2 雖然和母親的關系有所改觀，但他還是很消沉。

In English， although can not be used with but， on the contrary in Chinese “雖然……但（是）” is a fixed collocation.

e.g. d. Because her face was turned， I couldnt see Helens expression.

Trans.1 因為海倫的臉轉過去了，我看不見她的表情。

Trans.2 因為海倫把臉轉過去了，所以我看不見她的表情。

In English， because can not be used with so， on the contrary in Chinese “因為……所以” is a fixed collocation.

e.g. e. Where there is a will， there is a way.

Trans.1. 有意志的地方，就有路。

Trans.2. 有志者事竟成。

The first translation is very difficult to understand， and the second one is acceptable.

2.1.1.3 Fixed collocation

Fixed collocation in English is also a factor that affects the Chinese ecology. In English-Chinese translation， collocation phrases are translated completely according to their fundamental meanings， which can lead to the alienation of Chinese.

e.g.f. The children are singing and dancing happily in the sun.

Trans.1 孩子們在陽光里愉快地唱歌跳舞。

Trans.2 孩子們在陽光下愉快地唱歌跳舞。

e.g. g. He tried to drive home to us that we should listen when the people are complaining.

Trans.1. 他試圖開車送我們回家，這樣人民抱怨的時候，我們應該聽。

Trans.2. 他試圖讓我們明白這個道理：人民抱怨時，我們應該傾聽。

Drive home to sb. is fixed collocation expression in English， means ”使某人清醒地意識到……”；”讓某人明白……道理”. From Trans.1， the translator cannot get the meaning of the collocation， so it is hard to understand his translation.

2.1.2 Sentence structures

2.1.2.1 Overuse of the passive voice

Passive voice is widely used in English. But in Chinese passive voice is seldom used， people are used to using active voice. Overuse of the passive voice in Chinese will contaminate Chinese structures.

e.g. h. Vitamin？C？is？destroyed？when？it？is？overheated.

Trans.1. 當維生素C被過度加熱時，就會被破壞。

Trans.2.？維生素C受熱過度就會壞掉。

e.g. i. American government is fill with procedures designed to assure that interested persons may comment on politics before decision are made.

Trans.1. 美國政府被很多程序充滿，這些程序被設計來保證決定被作出前有關人士可以對政策發表評論。

Trans.2. 美國政府有很多工作程序，為的是保證在作出決定以前有關人士都能對政策發表評論。（

From examples， we can see there are there many “被” in the first one translation， the features of Englichi are distinct， which make sentences poor and shoddy. And the second translations， “被”are cleverly dealt with based on Chinese ecology， which are more in line with the Chinese language expression habits.

2.1.2.2 English Tenses

In English-Chinese translation， English tenses can cause Englichi， translators tend to be hampered by the structures of English tenses， especially the future tense， continuous tense.

e.g. j. Which paragraph shall I read first？

Trans.1. 我將先讀哪一段？

Trans.2. 我先讀哪一段呢？

e.g. k. I will arrive tomorrow.

Trans.1. 我將明天到。

Trans.2. 我明天到。

e.g.l.- What are you doing

- Im reading in the library

Trans.1 –你正在干什么？

–我正在圖書館看書。

Trans.1.–你在干嘛？

–我在圖書館看書。

“將”“正在”these Chinese characters in the first translations are features of English tenses， but once they are always used in Chinese translation， Chinese expressions will be affected by them and Chinese language ecology will be affected， too.

2.1.2. The influence of set-thinking mode

Set-thinking， also known as habitual thinking， refers to a kind of psychological state that people engage in certain activities in advance， which can affect the trend， degree and mode of subsequent activities. The main factor that constitutes the thinking-set is the fixed tendency of cognition. The knowledge， experience and habit formed before will make people form the fixed tendency of cognition， which will affect the later analysis， judgment and form the thinking set， that is， thinking is always unable to get rid of the shackles of the existing frames， showing a negative stereotypes.

While Language acquirers acquire a second language， they will put themselves in the ecology of its language， acquiring its vocabulary， grammatical structures and it language order. After a long-term learning and training， they will gradually form a fixed language framework and language expression mode. Meanwhile， Language acquirers know the ecology of two kinds of languages， when they translate， the ecology of two languages will collide with each other， influence and penetrate each other， and thus phenomenon of language alienation comes into being. In English- Chinese translation， translators can be influenced by the fixed framework， semantics of English， and they will used the fixed thinking set of English to translate， so that strange Chinese can be read in their translations， which is very difficult to understand and awkward to read， thats Englichin.

e.g. j. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms， with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where， in spring， white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields.

Trans.1. 小鎮為繁榮昌盛的農場中央，農場有很多稻田，象棋盤一樣，還有很多果園在山坡上，春天白云朵朵的花兒會在綠色田野的上空漂浮。

Trans.2. 小鎮位于農場中心，農場呈現出一片繁榮昌盛的景象，一片一片的稻田星羅棋布，漫山遍野的果園，一到春天，鮮花盛開，象朵朵白云在綠色的田野上空搖弋。

This example is just one sentence. The author describes the beautiful view of the town using with+ n.. And there is an attributive clause in the prepositional phrase. The sentence seems complicated. So， in English-Chinese translation， language order is very important， which should be adjusted based on Chinese language order and habitual expression mode. Besides， two words checkerboard and drifted should be carefully considered. Checkerboard literal meaning is “棋盤” in English， but “星羅棋布” is better than “棋盤” in Chinese。 drifted literal meaning is “漂浮” in English， but “搖弋” is better than “漂浮” in Chinese。

e.g. k. Along the roads， laurel， viburnum and alder， great ferns and wild flowers， delighted the travelers eye through much of the year， delighted the travelers eye

Trans.1. 路邊，月桂、莢蒾、榿樹，巨大的蕨草和野花讓游人的眼睛很舒服。

Trans.2. 路邊，月桂、莢蒾、榿樹，茂密的蕨草和野花令游人賞心悅目。

In this sentence， delight literal meaning is “令/使…高興” in English. The translation

”讓游人的眼睛很舒服”of delighted the travelers eye is not perfect as “令游人賞心悅目”

e.g. l. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty， where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow.

Trans.1. 即使在冬天，路邊還是美麗的地方。無數的鳥兒來到路邊覓食漿果，還有那些從積雪中生出來的干草頭部的種子。

Trans.2. 即使在冬天，路邊依然美麗。無數的鳥兒來到路邊覓食漿果，還有那些沒有被積雪覆蓋的干草的穗。

the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow is the key to translate. the seed heads of the dried weeds is translated into “干草頭部的種子” sounds funny， while “干草的穗” is obviously good， which is more in line with Chinese habitual expression.

3. Ways to avoid Chinese alienation

From the perspective of ecology， the phenomenon of Chinese alienation is caused by the effect of English language culture on Chinese language culture， which is the result of the ecological interaction of the two languages. Objectively speaking， the phenomenon caused by this interaction has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand， the infiltration of English in Chinese can enrich Chinese vocabulary. On the other hand， excessive alienation will destroy the ecology of Chinese language and threaten the development of Chinese language and culture. Therefore， in the process of English-Chinese translation， the positive factors should be properly absorbed and the negative elements should be resisted， which are not conducive to the development of Chinese language and culture， the ecological environment of Chinese language can be maintained. Then， how to avoid Chinese alienation？

a.It is necessary and important to strength Chinese language cultivation， consolidate language foundation， increase reading volume， expand reading scope， and improve Chinese language level.

b.Keep the thinking stereotypes， pay attention to the way of thinking in English-Chinese translation process， should be switched between two different language environment.

c.While maintaining the ecology of English language， never destroy the original ecology of Chinese language. Therefore， never abuse creative words and copy the literal meaning and sentence structure of English. Carefully read the original text according to the context and what the author wants to express， accurately choose the Chinese vocabulary， then translate the text according to the Chinese language habitual expressions.

4. Conclusion

From the perspective of ecology， language is the result of its interaction with the surroundings. Therefore， language is not only a tool for expression and communication， but also a carrier of national history and culture. Good language ecology will promote the development of language. In the process of English-Chinese translation， the phenomenon of Chinese alienation is very serious， and Chinese has been impacted by English. In this case， how to protect Chinese ecology without contamination of English ecology is very important and worth considering. The author thinks that in the process of learning English， we should absorb the positive factors and resist the negative elements which are not conducive to the development of Chinese language and culture. Meanwhile we should strength Chinese language cultivation， consolidate language foundation， increase reading volume， expand reading scope， and improve Chinese language level， in this way can we promote the harmonious development of English and Chinese， maintain the ecological balance of language.

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作者簡介：

許毅蘭（1965.6——），女，四川樂山人，樂山師范學院外國語學院講師，主要從事應用語言學和英語教法的研究。